Tuesday, February 28, 2006

About 5,000 children chanting "Hang those who insulted the prophet" rallied in Pakistan's largest city on Tuesday in the latest protest in the Islamic nation against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

I wonder what CAIR would say if we had 5,000 American children in the streets burning Muslim symbols.

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28 – Rap music is rapidly becoming a popular in Iran and a new CD which mocks the Islamic Republic’s ruling ayatollahs is taking the country by storm.

The latest in the line of music making fun of Iran’s top clerics is an album made by a group called Dalu.

The artists have taken popular rap beats and replaced the lyrics with their own versions, blasting the ayatollahs iron rule, incompetence in economic affairs, and even their unfashionable attire.

Iranian youths, who make up over 70 percent of the total population, have taken a liking to rap music, and the combo of hip beats and anti-mullah lyrics have been turning into a huge hit in Iran’s urban areas.

The music is banned by Iran’s strict cultural vetting body even without the sharp lyrics for being too Western.

Countless people have come forward in the defense of Islam over the past few years and in particular since 9-11, saying that Islam is a religion of peace. It has been pointed out that the vast majority of Muslims are not fundamentalists wishing to terrorize the world in honor of Allah, but rather wanting the world to be a place of understanding and harmony.

I guess it is safe to say that this mother and daughter are representative of the minority in Islam, because, as you are well aware, this is attitude is pretty rare among Muslims. From WorldNetDaily with a h/t to The Religion Of Peace.

The mother of a woman arrested in a suicide-bombing attempt told a Palestinian TV interviewer she was upset by her daughter's capture, but only because it meant the 21-year-old wouldn't be able to kill Israelis targeted for attack, including children.

The mother of Wafa Al-Bas – arrested at the Erez border crossing last June concealing a 20-pound bomb under her clothing – spoke to official Palestinian Authority television in a segment translated by Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch.

Al-Bas was on her way to bomb the outpatient clinic of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, where she had been receiving regular treatments for serious burns to 45 percent of her body from a gas stove explosion in her home.

She said her greatest wish was to kill 30 to 50 Israelis, including children.

Might this be one of those times when we are not supposed to pay any attention to the man behind the curtain?

Senator Ted Kennedy, the liberal democrat from Massachusetts has long been an advocate for alternative energy sources. That is unless the alternative source is to be located too close to his filthy rich family's estate.

[the] project had a powerful enemy in Sen. Kennedy, who has voiced strong support for alternative energy projects – as long as they are not in his backyard.

In his book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy,” author Peter Schweizer first disclosed: "Senator Kennedy has introduced dozens of pieces of legislation over the years to encourage the development of solar, hydrogen, and wind as alternatives to oil and coal.”

Why, then, would Kennedy oppose the Cape Wind Project?

"The wind turbines would be built in Nantucket Sound, about six miles off the coast from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis,” Schweizer explains.

"The problem was not aesthetic; the Kennedys wouldn’t be able to actually see the turbines from their home. Instead Robert Kennedy Jr., who had been beating the drum for alternative sources of energy for more than a decade, complained that the project would be built in one of the family’s favorite sailing and yachting areas.”

Sen. Kennedy publicly called for further study of the project – but "privately, he tried to get the study canceled,” Schweizer writes.

The federal Minerals Management Service is expected to issue a final verdict on the project early next year.

Nathanael Greene, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Post: "This is sort of backdoor politics at its worst, for the worst possible reasons.”

Liberals cry over our dependence on foreign oil and demand alternative energy sources. They whine when gasoline and heating oil prices rise and hurt consumers while pointing out that prices would be lowered if there were more alternative energy sources. They beat their fists in frustration over global warming concepts and pollution that could be diminished if we only used alternative energy sources. Then they blame our lack of alternative energy sources on greedy and uncaring conservatives that lack a national energy program.

For years the country's classrooms have been well defensed bastions of liberal ideology and promotion. At colleges and universities the general leftist nature of instruction has been very much in the open, while that going on in elementary and secondary schools has been more covert in nature -- typically relegated to the almost-innocently placed liberal dogma within the confines of science, history and geography books and practice lessons.

In one Maryland high school, however, the liberal teaching hasn't been quite so clandestine, and the students are the ones crying foul.

“It’s not acceptable for a public high school to be used to push a political agenda. That’s not what education is about,” Saraf commented. “The ‘class’ is headed by an individual with a political agenda, who wants to teach students the ‘right’ way of thinking by giving them facts that are skewed in one direction.”

Colman McCarthy, the teacher of the course, is the founder and president of the Center for Teaching Peace, an organization which works with teachers and school districts to start or expand education in peace studies. McCarthy has defended his teaching style, saying, “Unless we teach them peace, someone else will teach them violence,” although he claims to welcome conservative dissenters in his class.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Earlier in the month Debbie Schlussel brought my attention to a Turkish movie named Valley of The Wolves that includes in its cast Gary Busey and Billy Zane. As Schlussel pointed out, the movie was disturbingly anti-Semitic and anti-American.

In the closing sequence, the hero is shown plunging a dagger into the heart of a US commander called Sam, played by Billy Zane. The audience responded by standing up and chanting "Allah is great!"

Afterwards, an 18-year-old member of the audience said: "The Americans always behave like this. They slaughtered the Red Indians and killed thousands in Vietnam. "I was not shocked by the film, I see this on the news every day."

We can continue to thank people like Gary Busey and Billy Zane for their part in this sort of anti-American world sentiment.

The blistered marathon gamer keeps on going -- his body merely a token, circling the course in the aftergame.

Which in and of itself wouldn't be so bad if he'd stop yammering on and on and on and on, like the incessant clattering of a loose shutter in the wind or the screaming of some punk's stereo as he cruises the neighborhood with windows down, endlessly looping and repeating, yowling away in peaks and valleys, reaching apex notes of squeakery followed by depths of almost inaudibility -- never going away entirely; droning on and on about the unfairness of life and the pain of feet -- blathering forth in the too-quick spasms of mania before slowing to crawling words of monotony that one can only hope to endure or survive.

But, as long as he ain't actually outside running somewhere or his head ain't locked in the stove, I suppose he ain't actually suffering too bad.

Mohammed at Iraq The Model has a first hand perspective on what happened in Baghdad in the early aftermath of the shrine bombing.

He points out the likely culprits behind the bombing and also identifies those that had most to gain from the reprisal attacks against the Sunnis.

It appears to Mohammed that things were a bit more organized and encouraged than they were spontaneous.

So…the protests were not spontaneous like clerics want us to think; in fact the only spontaneous protest was the one in Samarra itself!

I live here and I've seen the whole thing. The demonstrations in Baghdad began after the fatwa and I saw how shop keepers unwillingly closed their shops when the men in black with their arms and loudspeakers ordered them to do so "in the name of the Hawza" and I saw the sad look on the faces of people abandoning their only source of income for a time that could go indefinitely.

One might ask why would Iraqis obey such orders?

I say, Imagine yourself standing in front of your shop watching the police retreat from the street while angry men with arms come and order you to leave your shop and join the "spontaneous protests"! Believe me you will find no other choice but to join the mob or face the risk of being considered an infidel traitor.

I'd also like to point out the provoking language that was used in the calls for many protests. In one example I heard in person, the guy holding the mic said "today they attacked your Imam's shrine and tomorrow they will take your women, so rise up".

If we ignore Islamic fascism long enough, perhaps it will just go away on its own. Mark Steyn, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, doesn't seem to think that is going to work very well.

Something very remarkable is happening around the globe and, if you want the short version, a Muslim demonstrator in Toronto the other day put it very well:

''We won't stop the protests until the world obeys Islamic law.''

Stated that baldly it sounds ridiculous. But, simply as a matter of fact, every year more and more of the world lives under Islamic law: Pakistan adopted Islamic law in 1977, Iran in 1979, Sudan in 1984. Four decades ago, Nigeria lived under English common law; now, half of it's in the grip of sharia, and the other half's feeling the squeeze, as the death toll from the cartoon jihad indicates. But just as telling is how swiftly the developed world has internalized an essentially Islamic perspective. In their pitiful coverage of the low-level intifada that's been going on in France for five years, the European press has been barely any less loopy than the Middle Eastern media.

Slowly open oven door. Plug nose. Open all windows and set exhaust fan on high. Carefully remove pan from oven and drop directly into a toxics rated sealable metal garbage can. Throw can in landfill. Sell house.

Well, the huge rally is over. As was feared, a number of boneheads showed up to protest the Nazi march in Orlando this weekend, some fights broke and a few arrests were made.

Clad in khaki uniforms, tall black boots and red arm patches bearing swastikas, about 30 members of the National Socialist Movement were barricaded on one side by SWAT team members.

Bill White, the infamous publisher of overthrow.com commented on a Rougblog post a few days ago.

"We've had dozens of rallies since Toledo I, and our movement has grown exponentially."

Judging from the huge turnout at Orlando, the National Socialist Movement's exponential growth began with 2 people in Toledo.

Bill continues...

Look at it this way -- National Socialism is now more popular than your phony Judaized Christianity.

The turnout, though pegged at an impressive 30, will not be nearly as high as are expected for the 2006 Kirtland's Warbler Festival here in Michigan, this year's New Mexico Prairie Chicken Festival or Ohio's upcoming Pork Rind Festival. All of which, apparently, are much more popular than Judaized Christianity too.

Did you know that Tom and Jerry are in reality a clever secret nefarious plot by the Jews?

That's what Professor Hassan Bolkhari, who teaches philosophy of art at Tabatabaei and Al-Zahra Universities in Iran and is a member of the Film Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a cultural advisor to the Iranian Education Ministry, asserts[.]

We must add another country to the list of those responsible for the bombing of the golden dome mosque in Iraq. According to another tiring Iranian cleric, the British helped the Jews and Americans. From Iran Focus.

A hard-line cleric in Iran’s parliament accused Britain of being behind plots against Muslims, including the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra.

“In these events, the footprints of the British can be seen along with the joint plot by the CIA and Mossad, and it was carried out through several intermediaries”, Hojjatoleslam Ali Zadsar, a deputy in Iran’s hardline-dominated Majlis, told the government-owned news agency Iscanews.

“Insults against Muslims’ sanctities have historical roots and the greatest number of conspiracies in this regard has been carried out by the British”, the cleric said.

We wouldn't expect Iran to point any fingers at those who would gain most from the bombing. Honesty isn't their strong suit.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Please take a moment to read about Ilan Halimi, who was murdered last week in France after three weeks of torture carried out by Muslim extremists. His story has not been widely circulated by the main stream media.

Finally, after weeks of negotiations and much back and forth posturing, the Kitty and I have come to an acceptable agreement between us concerning seating at the computer desk.

In essence, I have promised her that I will not scare her by screaming like a banshee while writhing on the floor, if she promises not to dig her needle-like claws into my leg for added traction should she start to lose her balance.

I have been suffering from a bad sore throat, what with all the screaming, and she kept having to clean blood off her paws.

Late last year a Nazi rally was held in Toledo. The rally, if it had not been exposed to a counter-rally, would have occurred with no one even noticing, and the Nazis would have been forced to go home disappointed. Unfortunately there was a counter rally and rioting ensued, providing the Nazis the national stage they desired for their propaganda.

Now, the same group that organized the Toledo rally is planning a rally in Florida for this weekend. If no one would pay any attention the rally would just fizzle out and the morons would be forced to go home discouraged that they got no attention.

Once again, however, someone is stepping forward to provide the Nazis exactly what they are hoping for.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Despite pleas from police to stay home during a neo-Nazi march planned for downtown Orlando this weekend, state Sen. Gary Siplin said he is going to stage a counter demonstration that will shower the neo-Nazis with love.

The same neo-Nazi group that instigated violence in Toledo, Ohio, last year will march along Hughey and Church streets and then head north on Terry Avenue to Washington Street before ending at the Federal Courthouse.

However, an hour before the planned neo-Nazi rally, Siplin, other area ministers and city leaders will engage in what he calls a "prayer march."

"We need to be cool," Sen. Siplin said. "We are going to love them. We are going to shower them with love because we know love conquers all. Love never fails and love conquers hate."

There is no doubt that we Christians believe that love will, in the end, conquer over evil. However, it is during the intermediate steps of life on Earth where evil does win battles -- just like they won the battle in Toledo last year.

This is a battle where love will not win, but where a heaping dose of indifference stands a real good chance.

At the University of Washington, a memorial was recently proposed for Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, a Washington alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient. Boyington, who formed Marine Fighting Squadron 214---the famed "Black Sheep Squadron" ---shot down 26 Japanese aircraft before being shot down himself. (As a prisoner of war, Boyington was actually tortured for 20 months, not just photographed naked.) Student senator Jill Edwards spoke out against this singular American hero, voicing her opposition to the memorial because she didn't want someone who killed people to be memorialized. She didn't "believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce." Another senator, Ashley Miller, complained that too many other "rich white men" are memorialized at UW. While these students promote their own ignorance, Colonel Boyington (who was actually Native American) rests at Arlington National Cemetery in highest honor.

In response to the firestorm of criticism already erupting, UW created a scholarship named for Boyington and it will go to an undergraduate who is a Marine Corps veteran or the child of one. Meanwhile, a new resolution has been introduced to create amemorial for all five of UW's Medal of Honor winners---Boyington, Deming Bronson, Robert Galer, Robert Leisy and William Nakamura.

Just another fine example on how elected representatives don't necessarily lose their intellectual compass in their never ending quest to be re-elected. Many of them start out intellectually depleted right from the get-go.

No one on Earth has the ability to fight terrorism at its roots better than the Saudis, and Al Qaeda could be making a huge tactical mistake by waking up the House of Saud. I hope they wake up before it is too late.

Today is a day off in Iraq, emergency situation now officially declared with extended curfews 8pm-6am.

Sistani has been calling for restraint and calm but it seems that some Shia factions are not listening to him but instead they are listening to their direct references or acting on their own.

Spokesmen of the Islamic Party and Muslim Scholars claim more than 120 mosques have been blown up, set ablaze or came under small arms and RPG fire including the Um al-Qura mosque which is the HQ of the Association of Muslim Scholars which came under several drive-by shootings.

Radio Sawa reported a short while ago that the central morgue in Baghdad received some 80 bodies of people who were killed with gun shots since Wednesday afternoon.

In our neighborhood the Sadr militias seized the local mosque and broadcast Shia religious mourning songs from the mosques loudspeakers.

In several other cases, worshippers were turned away by "gunmen in black" who surrounded the closed mosques. Other mosques are encircled by razor-wire to stop anyone from approaching them.

The sense in the streets and the statements given by some Shia clerics suggest that retaliation attacks are organized and under control and are focusing on mosques frequented by Salafi and Wahabi groups and not those of ordinary Sunnis.

Looking at the geographic distribution of the attacked mosques, I found they were mostly in areas adjacent to Sadr city forming a line that extends from the New Baghdad district in the southeast to al-Hussayniya in the northeast.

The Association of Muslim Scholars is accusing the Sadrists in particular, actually it's not only the Association that accuses the Sadrists, most people here in Baghdad point out the role of Mehdi army of Sadr in carrying out most of the attacks.

The Association is trying to remind Sadr of the their times of solidarity during the battles in Najaf and Fallujah yet they are condemning his message to his followers in which he called for keeping up and escalating the "protests".

ANYONE WHO thinks the tort system can handle asbestos claims should consider some numbers from the Rand Corp. think tank. Of the $70 billion paid out in settlements for asbestos-related injuries since the 1970s, about $41 billion went to lawyers; only $29 billion went to sick people. A system of compensation that burns up more than half the dollars it consumes in administrative costs is utterly broken. The grotesque legal fees have contributed to the bankruptcy of 77 U.S. companies so far, costing thousands of workers their jobs. And this bonfire of inanity has not even brought solace to all the people who need it. Some who have developed cancer can't sue for compensation because they were exposed to asbestos by the federal government, which has legal immunity. Others can't sue because they were wronged by a company that has since gone out of business. Still others may die before they get what they deserve because their cases are crawling through the courts so slowly.

Where are all the trial lawyers that would normally be lining up to battle this sort of injustice in a class action suit? Attorney complaints against the unfairness of our society sound dreadfully hollow to me right about now.

No one expects trial lawyers to be paupers. We shouldn't have to think of them as thieves either.

Is anyone paying attention to the flap over control of the Detroit Zoo? Both the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News have been covering the story on a daily basis, and some of the posturing has become quite ugly.

Desiree Cooper today in the Free Press has some common sense observations about the city of Detroit and its current state.

On a personal note, I went to the Detroit Zoo four years ago with my chilren. It was not a good experience and we left very disappointed. We were treated rudely by the ticket taker, found the park dirty and smelly, and discovered that the park itself was laid out so poorly that many of the animals were obscured from view by topography and general layout. This was very disappointing because our previous zoo visit at the Fort Worth Zoo, though located in a much smaller city, was many times the Detroit zoo's superior. It was clean and friendly and had the added bonus that the animals could actually be seen!

That is not to say that the Detroit zoo didn't have its positives. The gardens were beautiful and there were a number of areas that we saw were being upgraded so we were hopeful that our next trip would be more enjoyable. Also, the Penguins rocked!

I guess I don't care who runs the zoo. The next time I go though I would like the park's employees to treat me like they want me to be there rather than treating me like I'm just another inconvenience standing in the way of their next paycheck.

The people of Detroit deserve better. The people of Michigan deserve better. My kids deserve better.

The truly wise Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has set the record straight. The bombing of the Askariya mosque dome in Samarra is the work of Jews and Americans.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the United States and Israel on Thursday for the destruction of a Shiite shrine's golden dome in Iraq, saying it was the work of "defeated Zionists and occupiers."

Speaking to a crowd of thousands on a tour of southwestern Iran, the president referred to the destruction of the Askariya mosque dome in Samarra on Wednesday, which the Iraqi government has blamed on insurgents.

"They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice," Ahmadinejad said, alluding to the U.S.-led multinational forces in Iraq.

"These passive activities are the acts of a group of defeated Zionists and occupiers who intended to hit our emotions," he said in a speech that was broadcast on state television. Addressing the United States, he added: "You have to know that such an act will not save you from the anger of Muslim nations."

The only people that have anything to gain in this sort of event are those that want civil war, continued unrest, and the ouster of sunnis from Iraq. Conspicuously present on this list is Iran who would just love to swallow up Iraq to form a goliath Shiite state.

Would the Iranian mullahs perpetrate this sort of thing to gain power in the region? Though possible it is doubtful. What is not doubtful is that Iran is more capable of doing this and has a lot more to gain by doing so than either America or Israel.

With the seeming success of the socialists in Maryland versus that huge and poor corporate citizen Wal-Mart, other states have started to pile on in the battle to cripple the retailer. What is good for the socialists in Maryland has got to be good for socialists in other states too. Except, predictably, the other states seeing a possible windfall here, feel that Maryland didn't go far enough in its extortion.

Writing in Townhall today, Alan Reynolds considers what the results of governmental meddling will be in the private sector. He doesn't think it is good for the workers or consumers in the state -- particularly the ones that lose their jobs or face pay-cuts to reduce payroll to meet the regulations.

The cartoon controversy has created a teaching moment in American high schools and universities.

History teachers, civics teachers, government teachers, do the following:

Print out relevant sections from Milton's Areopagitica ("I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue" etc.), the trial of John Peter Zenger, the Virginia Remonstrances, and John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty."

Now print out the First Amendment of the Constitution (1791).

Now print out the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1792).

Now print out the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now print out the Muslim answer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is to say the "Cairo Declaration of Human Rights.”

With Hamas now in charge of the Palestinian government and over half of the consituency supporting suicide bombings that target civilians as a political tool, who could think we should continue sending monetary aid to the PA?

One of the largest barriers to turning around the plight of modern day public education is that the teacher's unions are far more interested in protecting dues paying jobs than they are in seeking a quality education for students.

John Stossel, writing in Townhall, draws attention to the difficulty school districts have in firing bad teachers at the expense of good ones.

The unions use their clout to fight against the interests of the best teachers. Union leaders make sure the teachers who work hardest don't get raises or bonuses. Everyone with the same seniority and credentials must be paid the same. That guarantees that no teacher will take home a dime for making extra sure that students learn. Joel Klein, who as New York's schools chancellor runs the country's largest public-school system, put it this way: "We tolerate mediocrity, and people get paid the same whether they're outstanding or whether they're average or, indeed, whether they're way below average."

Klein said that out of 80,000 teachers, only two have been fired for incompetence in the past two years. That's because it takes years for a principal to fire an incompetent teacher. I can't explain the rules here, but you may be able to read a flow chart about them in my next book -- "may be" because the flow chart may be too big to fit in a book. The rules are so complex that they ought to begin: First, take a week off from running your school to study these rules. Many of the rules come from the union contract, which has 200 pages plus a mess of addenda. Even Klein, who used to practice antitrust law for the federal government, called the contract a "regulatory nightmare."

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Just when I think that Muslims have reached an absolute apex of dumbness, some Muslim official somewhere utters a comment that even transcends their previous high-water mark of stupidity.

From Breitbart/AP comes this article on the continuing protests over cartoons. Nestled deeply in the article is this quote from Pakastani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz:

"We cannot condone such insensitivities toward our beliefs and condemn it in the strongest way," he said at an Islamic conference. "Islam does not believe in the clash of civilization, rather it advocates harmony, coexistence, peace and compassion."

If this guy truly believes this statement then he needs to start speaking to people of his faith that are clearly on a different page. The Muslims in the street advocating the murder of all infidels are not promoting harmony, coexistence, peace and compassion.

Forgive me, but right now this infidel is finding it a bit difficult to hear the squeaky voice of some Muslim official in an obscure conference semi-advocating harmony over the cacaphony of world street riots, all shadowed by placards demanding my death and the death of my children.

I'm not certain that I'm any farther behind the Muslim learning curve than is the average Muslim, and I haven't even thrown rocks at anyone this week.

In Hamas, former president Jimmy Carter has found yet another murderous Islamist regime in need of his services. In a Washington Post op-ed yesterday entitled “Don’t Punish the Palestinians,” America’s Worst Ex-President declared it was morally and strategically wrong to withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority’s new government, led by Hamas.

In his perpetually feckless style, Carter suggests, “top Hamas leaders may choose to concentrate their influence in the parliament and propose moderates or technocrats for prime minister and cabinet posts.” But peace-loving Hamas moderates might be provoked by American “collusion” with Israel, especially if Israel chooses to “withhold funds…Palestinians earn from customs and tax revenue.” (Greedy Jews.)

He griped, “This will present significant obstacles to a government's functioning effectively.”

Exactly. This government is led by a terrorist organization seeking to push Jews into the Mediterranean and extend a fundamentalist Islamic Palestine “from the river to the sea,” before exporting its jihad. Pardon Israel if it doesn’t want to contribute to the cause; it gave at the bus stop.

Point after objective point are made in the rest of the article.

It is not that I believe Carter is an evil man. I do, however, believe that the ignorance and naivete of others are often used as tools by the evil among us, and Carter's penchant for both is being harnessed for evil purposes. It is only that Carter is largely recognized as a dipstick here in America that his efforts aren't gaining a lot of domestic traction. (I hope this comparison is not a great insult to dipsticks.)

Despite those in the US largely ignoring Carter, every time he opens his mouth he lends legitimacy to the crackpot opinions of our enemies abroad -- fueling their anti-American attitudes and frenzies.

Please, Jimmy, go back to Habitat for Humanity. It would be nice to see you support the building of something for a change, rather than just advocating those in the business of destruction.

On second thought that wasn't so tough after all. Forgive me for being religiously predjudice here, but Muslim terrorism has had something to do with this. For over 30 years the world has faced murderous barbarism in the form of Islamic fundamentalism.

While it is still proclaimed to be a product of a minority of Islam's followers that do this, it is remarkably telling that much of the world is engulfed in riots perpetrated by Muslims, that many polls show 10% or more of Muslims support terrorism as a political tool, that many Muslims believe that their religion is their country, and that the most realistic threat of a nuclear device entering our country is through a port, and not delivery by missile.

It isn't often that I agree with Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer over, well, over anybody. This time, however, they hold the trump card versus the White House.

The UAE was used as a financial and operational base by some of the 9/11 hijackers. A New York Times editorial said the sale takes the Bush administration's "laxness to a new level."

Members of Congress may wish to consider that the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components bound for Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. The UAE was one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government before the U.S. invasion toppled it.

The Department of Homeland Security says it is legally impossible under CFIUS rules to reconsider approval of the sale without evidence the Dubai company gave false information or withheld vital details from U.S. officials. Congress should change that law.

Last year, Congress overwhelmingly recommended against the Bush administration granting permission to a Chinese company to purchase the U.S. oil services company UNOCAL. Six years ago, when a Chinese company took control of the Panama Canal from the United States, retired U.S. Admiral and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Thomas H. Moorer warned of a "nuclear Pearl Harbor."

Congress must stop this sale of American ports to foreign interests and, in an era of terrorism, prevent any more potential terrorist targets from falling into the hands of those who wish to destroy us.

This is a potential firestorm for the White House and is a no-win firestorm at that. President Bush must put aside his "I don't care what anyone thinks" attitude and listen to the people that elected him (read Harriet Miers.)

There are serious bi-partisan concerns here. In the case of security, always err on the side of security. Redundant I know, but can it get more simple?

----

When Jimmy Carter comes out in favor of something you know it is a mistake.

The UN gives Hugo Chavez an award for promoting liberty in Latin America. The ward is given to Hugo by none other that the great hero of New World freedom -- Cuba's Fidel Castro. As blatantly stupid as this is, sadly, this might not even be the biggest example of UN hypocrisy this week.

Joseph Klein writes in FrontPage today about the UN's latest report on Guantanimo.

Just when you thought that the United Nations could not sink any lower in hypocrisy and anti-American bias, they do. The latest outrage is the UN report released on February 16, which lashes out at the USA for holding suspected terrorists at its military facility at Guantanamo Bay. The report calls the detention camp a haven for torture and demands that the U.S. immediately give all prisoners there a jury trial or release them. Kofi Annan has characteristically straddled the fence, distancing himself from certain unspecified conclusions of the report but agreeing with its essential recommendations.

The report was written by five self-described human rights investigators with academic, scientific, or legal backgrounds, operating on behalf of the discredited UN Commission on Human Rights – whose members include such serial human rights abusers as Sudan and Zimbabwe. Their spokesperson, Leila Zerrougui, has a history of bashing the United States for phantom human rights violations. Three years ago, she accused our own judicial system – the finest in the world – of displaying “blatant discrimination” without presenting the slightest shred of supporting evidence. Presumably, Zerrougui does not think she needs to collect any credible evidence for her bald assertions because of her own experience as a judge from that that well-known bastion of civil liberties, Algeria.

The UN has become nothing more than a lobbying firm for third world dictators and socialists. We don't need to pay millions of dollars to the UN to do that. We already have Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton who will do it for nothing while living on their Presidential pensions.

I'm not sure what the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization folks are "partaking" of, in their cushy Paris headquarters, but the notion that Venezuela's caudillo is deserving of an award espousing these ideals (not to mention presented by Castro in Havana) simply boggles the mind.

It might be time for Washington to reconsider its membership in - and its $80-plus million annual contribution to - this misguided U.N. agency.

But hold on - it gets worse. Not only was giving the award to Chavez a searing insult to the real Jose Marti, a 19th century Cuban liberal thinker who opposed all forms of tyranny; the event also turned into a raucous anti-American hate-fest pumped-up by blistering Chavez and Castro speeches.

How many bureaucrats at the UN are being paid to come up with sit-com material like this?

I hope that CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is sharpening up some pencils. I would really hate to see any Islamophobia result from this sort of thing. You know, all Muslims being peaceful and all.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Sometimes you can find friends in the most difficult of circumstances. It is also true that you can meet some of your worst enemies in places where you should be safe. This is a case where al Qaeda and the Taliban is getting the former, while the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan must settle for the latter.

In a statement that will surely encourage our enemies, a coalition of U.S. churches has denounced the war in Iraq and claims that the U.S. is "raining down terror" and entering into imperial projects that seek to dominate and control for the sake of our own national interests.

The churches' propaganda statement was disguised as a letter from the US Conference for the World Council of Churches to the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil:

Yet we acknowledge as well that we are citizens of a nation that has done much in these years to endanger the human family and to abuse the creation. [. . . .] But our country responded by seeking to reclaim a privileged and secure place in the world, raining down terror on the truly vulnerable among our global neighbors. Our leaders turned a deaf ear to the voices of church leaders throughout our nation and the world, entering into imperial projects that seek to dominate and control for the sake of our own national interests. Nations have been demonized and God has been enlisted in national agendas that are nothing short of idolatrous. We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched in deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights. We mourn all who have died or been injured in this war; we acknowledge with shame abuses carried out in our name; we confess that we have failed to raise a prophetic voice loud enough and persistent enough to deter our leaders from this path of preemptive war. Lord, have mercy.

Al-Qaeda's propagandists could not have imagined a document more helpful to their cause. Aljazeera, the most popular Arab news source, headlines the story "U.S. churches denounce Iraq war, 'American terror.'"

Al-Qaeda doesn't have to denigrate the liberation of 50 million people from the horrors of two of the worlds most tyrannical and fascist regimes, our churches do it for them. This letter is an unfortunate piece of evidence supporting Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's position that the US is losing the propaganda war against al-Qaeda and other enemies.

The Telegraph has this today concerning a recent survey questioning British Muslims:

Four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of the country, a survey reveals today.

The ICM opinion poll also indicates that a fifth have sympathy with the "feelings and motives" of the suicide bombers who attacked London last July 7, killing 52 people, although 99 per cent thought the bombers were wrong to carry out the atrocity.

Overall, the findings depict a Muslim community becoming more radical and feeling more alienated from mainstream society, even though 91 per cent still say they feel loyal to Britain.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Deadly protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad spread in Africa, killing 16 people in Nigeria on Saturday a day after claiming 11 lives in Libya.

Many of those who died in northern Nigeria were Christians, killed after a Muslim protest over the cartoons turned violent and rioters torched churches, shops and vehicles, police and local officials said.

It was the bloodiest protest so far over satirical cartoons of the Prophet, first published in a Danish newspaper, that Muslims regard as blasphemous.

"They went on the rampage, burning shops and churches of the Christians. The protesters killed the others. Some were even killed in the churches," said Joseph Hayab, north-west secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

When Muslims kill each other in these moronic protests I have little complaint. Vermin that die as the result of the violence they create, are only victims of themselves. But, when these evil people in the midst of a temper tantrum begin killing innocents, it is time to pull out the machine guns.

The desperate liberal media is hanging on to this Cheney story like Bill Clinton clinchin’ Border’s last copy of the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue. What a hissy fit NBC’s chief screaming correspondent, the pink shirted, David Gregory threw. This guy made Ron Burgundy come across like a Tibetan monk high on Thai stick. I was waiting for him to start screaming, “I’m David Gregory . . . I’m David Gregory . . . and David Gregory is a very important person! People know me, and I have many leather bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany!”

Yeah, if you look closely on the video from last Monday you can see a spring blow out from the side of Dave’s premature gray scalp. Dial down, Davey. Back off the espresso. Take a deep breath . . . relax . . . walk it off . . . put on some Kenny G and do some T'ai Chi or something . . . ‘cause you’re scaring the children.

Meanwhile the villagers are getting tired of hearing the pipsqueak media cry "wolf" every couple of days. When a real scandal does break it is going to take a lot of effort to get anyone's attention.

"I am thinking to myself in other countries they are laughing at us twenty four hours a day and I'm thinking to myself if we were in other countries, we would all right now, all of us together, all of us together would go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death. We would stone him to death! Wait! Shut up! Shut up! No shut up! I'm not finished. We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we'd kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families."

Now saying this?

Cheney is a terrorist. He terrorizes our enemies abroad and innocent citizens here at home indiscriminately. Who ever thought Harry Whittington would be the answer to America's prayers. Finally, someone who might get that lying, thieving Cheney into a courtroom to answer some direct questions.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Players use their skills of anticipation, technique, and positioning to gather in errant tosses from other players. Aggressiveness too plays a role in this fast paced game where elbows may fly and smack is commonplace.

Comment from the publisher: "We tried to make Rebound an authentic game. We wanted it to be a game that would mirror actual basketball play. We studied a lot of film during game development and spent a lot of time in the gym too. We looked at what it was that made some people good rebounders, and why others seemed to be out of position.

"This truly is a game where the person with the most rebounds just might not be the best rebounder. In fact, he probably sucks."

While statistical calculation is not our strongest suit, we are reliably instructed by census data that there are 217.8 million adults over the age of 18 in the U.S. Twenty-one percent of that population comes to 45,738,000 people. If polling data do, in fact, represent the views of the population from which the sample is taken, then either this "domestic spying" thing is truly way out of control or you might strongly prefer that every fifth person behind you in the grocery checkout line be somewhere else, like a padded room.

Despite searching semi-diligently, we were unable to find the poll's demographic breakdown for the folks who answered the question, or even the question as asked. To some, those would be trivial issues, but if all 45,738,000 are liberals, for example, we could quickly observe that the spy program is working as intended and move on.

If a substantial percentage of those 45,738,000 adults is gainfully employed, that would explain why you are inclined to run when retail employees ask, "Can I help you?" If a substantial percentage is employed for wages above minimum, that would give you a greater appreciation for those commercials featuring an office full of monkeys (or chimps, they all look the same to us).

Since we have none of that data, we must instead form learned hypotheses at least as informed as those of the medical community that admonished you to eat a low-fat diet or take ginormous calcium supplements for good bone health.

Our hypotheses place us on the horns of a dilemma. There are clearly not enough federal agents in the universe to adequately monitor the incessant phonage of 45,738,000 people (unless, again, they are all liberals, who tend to congregate densely in small places to aid herding and monitoring).

It would seem, then, that only a fraction of those 45,738,000 are really being wiretapped. Pick a number, whatever you think, because the NSA clearly isn't going to tell you. Then, with a heavy heart, contemplate all the rest who only "believe" they are being wiretapped. Millions upon millions upon millions of your fellow countrymen and countrywomen are either paranoid or suffer delusions of grandeur (it's a terrible burden to be too unimportant to be wiretapped) or both.

The President believes we need to strengthen our knowledge of math and science, and while we respect his judgment, we would be remiss if we did not also urge a crash program of mandatory psychiatric treatment, unless, of course, psychiatrists make up a substantial percentage of those who believe they are being wiretapped.

This comment is at the bottom of nearly all CNN.com articles that relate to the Mohammed cartoon controversy. One such article with the disclaimer is here.

CNN is not showing the negative caricatures of the likeness of the Prophet Mohammed because the network believes its role is to cover the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons while not unnecessarily adding fuel to the controversy itself.

In other words, CNN doesn't want to offend Muslims.

However, on Wednesday CNN had no problem reproducing photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Previous photographs of the Abu Ghraib abuse greatly offended Muslims and resulted in a number of Muslim deaths.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A Pakistani cleric announced Friday a $1 million bounty for killing a cartoonist who drew Prophet Muhammad, as thousands joined street protests and Denmark temporarily closed its embassy and advised its citizens to leave the country.

Police confined the former leader of an Islamic militant group to his home to prevent him from addressing supporters over the cartoons, amid fears he could incite violence, after riots this week killed five people.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

How can we prevent Muslim backlash? Here is one suggestion: Have someone from the Muslim Community step forward and catch the terrorist bastard that is shining lasers in the eyes of pilots as they fly near Detroit Metro Airport.

FBI agents in Detroit said Wednesday that at least 26 pilots flying near Detroit Metro Airport on Monday night complained that someone had shined a red laser into their cockpits. According to Dearborn Heights police, the incidents occurred between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. and the suspects may have been near a McDonald's restaurant and Home Depot store near the corner of Michigan Avenue and Telegraph Road.

Perhaps it is just a coincidence that the Dearborn area is home to one of the largest Muslim populations outside of the Middle East.

If you don't like terrorist backlash against your community, prevent some of the terror. For once you are in a position to do something about it. This is happening in your community. It is time for local mosques and CAIR to organize some neighborhood watches and monitor the streets.

Now is the best time to prevent backlash -- do not wait until the only clues we can get are received by sifting through an airliner's wreckage and finding the black box.

The snow was thickly piled at one o'clock today. It was completely impossible to see outside with the glass covered so completely and the snow beyond the windows blowing about in horizontal torrents. Great Lakes' blizzards are nothing to mess with, when the snow is wet and thick and sticks to everything.

The Syrian government, always recognized as a major contributor of cutting-edge medical research and advancements, believes it has discovered the origin of the avian flu virus.

It's the Jews.

Avian Flu May Have Been Developed by Israel, to Damage Arabs' Genes

"On November 16, 1998, the British newspaper Sunday Times published details about what was later dubbed 'the Israeli race bomb.' It reported that Zionist experts were trying to identify genes unique to Arabs, in order to create, through genetic engineering, dangerous viruses and bacteria that would exclusively attack these genes. The paper stated that the race bomb program was being carried out in the secret Nes Ziona Institute, near Tel Aviv, which specializes in production of chemical and biological weapons. In October 1999, the newspaper again emphasized that the Zionist entity was increasing its scientific efforts [to develop] the race bomb.

"At the time, no explanation was given regarding the nature of this virus that was being genetically engineered to realize the Zionist goal of harming the Arabs. It was also not specified what agent would be used to transmit the virus [to the Arab population]. The word 'bomb,' in this context, is merely a label... since the [attack] might involve mice, rats, birds or any other agent that can be used to spread the disease. The weapon, when ready, would therefore be used without declaring war or moving troops. It would look as though the [disease] broke out naturally, and not through [human intervention] - as though it were being spread by natural elements and not through a despicable and cunning plot."

Israel May Have Released the Disease in a Remote Region to Avoid Suspicion

"The question that arises today is whether the virus chosen by the Zionists for their 'Israeli race bomb' is the avian flu virus. Some might hasten to object by saying: 'But this virus first appeared, in 2003, only in east and southeast Asia, and spread to Asia Minor [i.e., Turkey] only in 2006!' This is a correct observation, but it does not rule out [the possibility that Israel first spread the virus] in that remote region out of several motivations, including [the following]:"

Read the whole thing, but not with a mouth full of Pepsi. That stuff hurts when blown through a nostril.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Palestinian Media Watch reports that Hamas has placed the farewell videos of two suicide bombers on its website. One bomber brags of the Palestinian's lust for drinking Jew blood, while the other comforts his mother before departing on his quest to kill some Jews.

While the video was made prior to suicide bombings carried out in December of 2004, the Hamas website made the videos available just this month and well after the Palestinian primary elections.

Each terrorist had a separate message for Jews. This first said,

"My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no god but Allah, we will chase you everywhere! We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no blood better than the blood of Jews. We will not leave you alone until we have quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your blood. We will not leave until you leave the Muslim countries."

The second terrorist said the following:

"In the name of Allah, we will destroy you, blow you up, take revenge against you, [and] purify the land of you, pigs that have defiled our country... This operation is revenge against the sons of monkeys and pigs."

One of the terrorists saw his death as a wedding with the Maidens of Paradise:

"I dedicate this wedding [i.e. death for Allah] to all of those who have chosen Allah as their goal, the Quran as their constitution and the Prophet [Muhammad] as their role model. Jihad is the only way to liberate Palestine - all of Palestine - from the impurity of the Jews."

The message to one of the terrorist's mother was instruction for her to be joyous over his death and his "wedding" with the "Maidens of Paradise."

"My dear mother, you who have cared for me, today I sacrifice my life to be your intercessor [on Judgment Day]. O my love and soul, wipe your tears, don't be saddened. In the name of Allah, I've achieve all that I've aspired. Don't let me see you sad on my wedding day with the Maidens of Paradise. So be happy and not sad, because in the name of Allah, after death is merciful Allah's paradise."

Included in the clip is the farewell scene between the mother and terrorist son while she helps him don his military vest. In the background one can hear the lyrics, "My dear mother, don't cry over us."

Anyone that says that Hamas is not a terrorist organization is an abject liar.

Vincent Fiore writing in the The New Media Journal has a few things to say about thankfully former President Jimmy Carter. I suppose you realize that when the nicest thing Fiore can say about President Carter was that he is ineffectual, the overall tone of the story is not pleasant.

But from a former president, I expect more, and so should everyone. It defies explanation how this humane but embittered man from Georgia can say just about anything and not be condemned by a press that certainly knows better.

But really, why should anyone be surprised? Carter has been doing this to Republican Presidents since he was--with extreme prejudice--voted out of office in 1980. Some of Carter’s verbal exploits include:

*Regarding President Ronald Reagan’s talks with Mikhail Gorbachev at Reykjavik : “I have always thought ‘Star Wars’ was a big mistake. My judgment is President Reagan missed a wonderful opportunity”

*Regarding President George H.W. Bush’s preparations during the Gulf War: "We are not planning now a defensive deployment of U.S. forces. We are now planning an offensive operation.” Days later at a conference at New York's Hofstra University, Carter states that if Bush attacks Iraq, the U.S. would “reap great and very serious deleterious consequences politically.”

*Regarding Bush’s “Axis of Evil” comment in the 2002 State of the Union address: “I think it will take years before we can repair the damage done by that statement…it was overly simplistic and counterproductive.”

It was once upon a time that U.S. presidents displayed the daily prestige and cognizance of the office of president not only when in it, but also out of it. Principally, criticism of current occupants of the White House was most often relayed privately, and was rarely seen on the op-ed pages of any major news organs. Sadly, former President Carter has deferred to pageantry instead of principle, an apt conclusion for a man whose presidency was more caricature than commanding.

BERLIN -- A Muslim cultural institute in Germany on Monday criticized Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad for disparaging the Holocaust, daring him to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"In this place of horror he can again deny the Holocaust, if he has the courage," a spokesman for the Islam-Archiv-Deutschland Central Institute told the German Catholic press agency KNA.

In recent statements, the hardline Iranian president has dismissed the Nazis' systematic slaughter of mainland Europe's Jews as a "myth" used to justify the creation of Israel and called for the state to be "wiped off the map".

By denying the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad not only denigrated the Jewish victims of the genocide but also the 200,000 Roms and Arabs murdered in the "gypsy camp" of Auschwitz-Birkenau and other camps, the institute spokesman said.

Ahmadinejad is pretty tough when it comes to standing behind a podium and preaching to a crowd of like-minded Jew haters. I doubt, however, that his bravery will extend to situations of open debate, such as might take place on the steps of Auschwitz.

The unanimous decision by the pharmacy board comes two weeks after three women, backed by abortion rights groups, sued Bentonville, Ark.- based Wal-Mart for failing to carry the drug in its 44 Wal-Marts and four Sam's Club stores in Massachusetts.

The women had argued that state policy requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines."

The morning-after pill provides a high dose of hormones that women can take up to five days after sex to prevent pregnancy. Some abortion opponents believe emergency contraception is a form of abortion because it blocks the fertilized egg from being implanted on the uterine wall.

In the wake of the Katrina disaster, we saw how well-equipped our different levels of government were at providing needed products and services. At the same time that people were stranded on rooftops because of local government failures, and water and food were being blocked from reaching stranded victims in the Superdome and elsewhere by state government failures, the evil Wal-Mart Corporation was making things happen. It was said by more than a few that the people of the delta would have been better served if Wal-Mart (evil) had coordinated the entire non-rescue, disaster relief effort.

Why? Because in the aftermath of a disaster, Wal-Mart did not have to deal with government red-tape and bureaucratic regulations--they were able to get things done without having to check with 25 lawyers before someone could make a decision. By the time that lawyer A and B had contacted lawyer C, Wal-Mart already had trucks of water and supplies on the road.

Since what should have been a clarifying moment took place for the whole world to see on television, the state of Maryland has passed legislation to harness Wal-Mart with state mandated benefit fee levels, and now Massachusetts has mandated that Wal-Mart carry products that it does not want to carry.

It should not be the government's job to dictate what products a company carries any more than it should dictate a benefits package for employees.

With this now mandated product on the shelves, is Wal-Mart relieved of any liability should someone die after taking a morning-after pill purchased from them? I'm just guessing, but your average trial lawyer might be able to sniff out some pretty deep pockets here. I'm not even sure that the leftists have thought of this angle, but they might well be contributing to higher profits for a company that wants to drive all the other pharmacies in the state out of business! Maybe the state should consider limiting what Wal-Mart can sell--just to make it fair.

I suppose its possible I'm just overlooking the long range wisdom of all this. Maybe the plan is to slowly take over all day-to-day operations of Wal-Mart nationwide. That way, if another natural disaster hits, the government won't look nearly so bad in comparison. Who knows, with enough of big-brother's involvement, next time it might be a fleet of empty Wal-Mart delivery trucks that gets flooded out instead of just a fleet of empty buses.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

For all you Michigan parents that haven't had enough time to speak with your teenage children about pre-marital sex and the condom (let alone if you haven't had the opportunity to sit down with them and create some cool artwork from the multi-colored latex sperm stoppers,) according to PipelineNews.org , Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan has you covered.

Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan's next program for teens is scheduled in Battle Creek on February 15. According to Planned Parenthood, "Project T.R.U.S.T. (Teaching Responsibility & Understanding of Sexuality & Teen Development) peer educators will be holding condom art workshops." The organization then goes on to encourage teenagers to "make a beautiful creation out of condoms, find out all the facts on using condoms correctly, and get a free gift!"

Planned Parenthood: Where we know that shoving a scissors into the brain of a near-term baby and then crushing her fragile skull with a forceps is much better than having that child adopted to a loving home.

Muslim leaders from Detroit today launched a program to educate the public about the Prophet Muhammed. From the Detroit Free Press.

“When people of diverse backgrounds get to know each other on a human level as well as obtaining a basic understanding of others’ beliefs, the prospect of hatred is diminished and the seeds of coexistence and cooperation can grow,’’ Walid said inside the Muslim Center of Detroit. Behind him were a group of Muslim leaders from Dearborn, Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Canton, and Dearborn Heights.

Muslims the world over celebrated the launching of the educational program and provided true-life testimonials to Muhammed and Islam by demonstrating their enlightened capacity for understanding, and their Godly pursuit of peace and cooperation:

With a hat tip to Rantings of a Sandmonkey, Amitai Sandy (29), a graphic artist and publisher of Dimona Comix Publishing has organized his own anti-Semitic cartoon contest, this time drawn by Jews.

"We'll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!" said Sandy "No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!"

The contest has been announced today on the www.boomka.org website, and the initiator accept submissions of cartoons, caricatures and short comic strips from people all over the world. The deadline is Sunday March 5, and the best works will be displayed in an Exhibition in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Sandy is now in the process of arranging sponsorships of large organizations, and promises lucrative prizes for the winners, including of course the famous Matzo-bread baked with the blood of Christian children.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best possible way to mock the idiot Muslim turds of Iran. Now, as soon as an Iranian newspaper comes up with an anti-Muslim cartoon contest, I will be very impressed.

Debbie Schlussel cannot help but wonder why Islamists have not spent much time protesting and rioting outside the F/X network offices.

Writes Schlussel:

As you'll recall, this past summer, I wrote in the Wall Street Journal about my experience with "filmmaker" Morgan Spurlock (of anti-McDonald's "Super Size Me" fame). Spurlock produced and appeared on a show, "30 Days" on the F/X Network, a poor take-off on the crappy show, "Wife Swap."

Spurlock's people tried to enlist me for one episode of this agenda-laden show, in which he commanded his airhead childhood buddy, David Stacy, to live for 30 days as a Muslim--with Detroit-area Muslims hand-picked by HAMAS front-group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was closely consulted by Spurlock in producing the show.

As I'm reminded by Mike, research director of Anti-CAIR, that episode of "30 Days" (click on "episode guide" at bottom of page, then "Muslims in America") featured 2-3 cartoons of Mohammed. In the episode, which was first broadcast in July, Mohammed is even disrespectfully referred to as "Big Mo'".

(snip)

Nope. Muslims not only didn't condemn Spurlock for the use of "Big Mo'" Mohammed cartoons, THEY HONORED HIM! In fact, Morgan Spurlock was honored, hailed, high-fived, and even given awards by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), CAIR of Los Angeles (more on this here), and CAIR of Michigan at their annual dinners. MPAC and CAIR, by the way, are the same groups condemning the Danish Mohammed cartoons.

Apparently CAIR and MPAC missed the memo stating that any depiction of the prophet Mohammed is blasphemous and insulting, and an act certainly worthy of any effort of protesting, boycotting, rioting and extortortion.

If the most liberal and tolerant states in Europe such as Holland and Denmark have the most problems with Islamic radicals, then what does that say about the continent as a whole? Why were not the calculating jihadists singling out a more unapologetic Catholic Poland that has larger contingents in Iraq and is far prouder of its Christian roots?

Do the Europeans sense that the more open, free-wheeling and non-judgmental the culture, the more it is hated by the jihadists? If Europe as a whole is more pro-Palestinian than the United States, disapproved of Iraq, and yet is still hated as much, is magnanimity at last exposed as appeasement—earning only contempt from an emboldened enemy?

Don’t look, however, for any overt expression of alarm. It is too much to ask of the European Union for now to go on the record supporting the right of Danish free expression or to demand an embargo of Iran as it approaches nuclear autonomy. Instead, expect the European reaction to be far more subtle: the same old public utopian rhetoric, but in the shadows a newfound desire to galvanize against the threat of Islamic fascism.

As a child I loved games and sports. I learned to read and write. I attended church (though reluctantly most of the time,) spent time in the woods, made forts and snow men, played marbles and wiffle ball, rode a bike and unicycle, and collected thousands of matchbooks and rocks.

While I dispensed with the marbles and wiffle ball in later life and my time in the woods has changed from playing into simple walks and hunting mushrooms, I still enjoy most of those things that I used to, and I certainly appreciate all of the things that helped make my childhood a wonderful growing and learning experience that gave me a good direction in my adult life.

Dennis Prager, writing in Townhall, isn't buying the media's argument that the American press has refused to publish the Mohammed cartoons out of respect for "Muslim sensibilities."

First, major papers in virtually every European country have published the cartoons. It is inconceivable that European papers are less concerned with Muslim sensibilities than American media are. If anything, in Europe they are more pro-Muslim given their anti-Israel and anti-American views and given that they live in countries with far greater numbers of Muslims than live in America.

Second, the reason to publish the cartoons is not to offend Muslims; it is to explain the most significant current news event in the world. How can anyone understand the Islamic riots without having seen the cartoons that triggered them? If millions of Christians rioted after cartoons were published in the Muslim world, does anyone doubt that the Western press would publish them, or that it had the obligation to do so?

The argument that people can see the cartoons on the Internet is specious. Anyone could see the photos of the abuse of Arab prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison on the Internet, yet the news media presented these photos day after day for weeks.

Third, the American press has routinely published cartoons and pictures that insult Christians and Jews. The Los Angeles Times published a cartoon depicting the stones of the Western Wall of the Jewish Temple, the holiest site to Jews, as spelling out the word "HATE" and showing a religious Jew bowing down before it. And what newspaper did not publish a photo of "Piss Christ," the Andres Serrano work of "art" depicting a crucifix in the artist's urine?

American newspapers "insult" every group whenever they feel like it, but no one riots, burns and kills because of it.

Fourth, the ban on depicting Mohammed applies to Muslims, not to non-Muslims. It is remarkable that American newspapers, so frightened of any breakdown between church and state, are suddenly guided by Muslim religious prohibitions.

Fifth, the argument that publishing the images would inflame Muslims' passions is another coverup for cowardice. No American newspaper or TV news show exhibited the slightest concern with inflaming Muslim passions when they endlessly published and depicted Abu Ghraib abuse photos.

Monday, February 13, 2006

The White House Press Corps is completely off its rocker, appearing to believe that Vice President Dick Cheney did something as insidious as drive his car off a bridge with a female staffer, allowed her to drown while making no attempt to get help, and then contacted his lawyer before contacting the police. An account of the events from USAToday.

Katharine Armstrong, the ranch's owner, told The Associated Press that the accident occurred after Cheney, Whittington and another hunter got out of a car to shoot at a covey of quail.

She said Whittington went to retrieve a bird he shot. Cheney and the third hunter, whom she would not identify, walked to another spot and discovered a second covey of quail.

Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," said Armstrong, who was in the car.

"The vice president didn't see him," she said. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."

One brave reporter questioned whether or not Cheney had committed a possible criminal offense. Another reporter, in a round-about-attempt to ask a question while still making political commentary at the White House briefing, compared the delay in public knowledge of the bird shot injury to the "news blackout" of Hurricane Katrina.

I can rest better at night knowing these brave journalistic soldiers are standing on a wall.

Dallas: Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew, Sprite, root beer, Vernor's, Squirt, 7-Up, Dr. Pepper, Powerade, Gatorade, Redpop, Jolt, Red Bull, Sobe, Aqua-Vie Hydrators, cappaccino mix and a few gallons of ice cream in various flavors for the making of floats. Oh, if you have the space, could you throw in a bag or two of pretzel rods?

Tim: This is your first time so you should know that we will occasionally tire of simply eating sugar snacks. Sometimes we will want to sit down and eat a whole meal of sugar too. So, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie, apple pie, chocolate pudding pie, peach pie, lemon pie, key lime pie, cherry cheese cake, carrot cake, Bundt cake, brownies, abrosia, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, and some of that peanut brittle that has been a bit overcooked so that it crumbles in the mouth. Do you know what a pretzel rod is?

Rollin: Asparagus and another thing that no one will eat.

Kirk: Toothpaste, defibrillator and electrodes. (You know, just in case someone loses his mind and has a bad reaction to the asparagus.)

The government's quest for utopia, tax dollars and freedom from personal responsibility are all on the table in one of Oakland California's latest city proposals. The city's proposed ordinance would add a tax to be charged to take out food establishments with the funds being earmarked for trash removal crews.

Elected leaders in the city of Oakland have backed a proposal to make take-out food businesses ranging from convenience stores to major hamburger chains such as McDonald's pay for public works crews to clean streets.

"We're just asking them to be good neighbors," said Jane Brunner, the city council member who crafted the ordinance.

The ordinance, which is expected to be finalized by summer, would create a three-tier fee structure based on the revenues of the businesses.

About three quarters of the city's take-out food shops are small, and would wind up paying about 60 cents (US) daily in litter fees, according to Brunner's office.

The proposal includes a promise that police would do "litter stings" to catch trash tossers.

City officials are also to conduct anti-litter seminars at public schools, because they say that students leaving campus for lunch and then throwing wrappers aside carelessly on the way back to class is a major problem.

I guess I don't know why it wouldn't make more sense for people to be fined for throwing out trash. A thousand dollar fee for throwing out a Big Mac box would make littering behavior cost prohibitive and it would also be punishing the idiot rather than the majority of folks that use the trash receptacle.

This is one of those programs that will be difficult to stop once it is started. As with all targeted taxes, it will become an expected revenue stream for the city even if all littering is completely eliminated through the city sponsored anti-littering seminars.

While in the midst of the global war on terror, the assailing of non-Muslim freedoms in Muslim dominated countries, and Muslim outrage over things such images of Muhammed, Piglet and the infamous Burger King ice cream labels, we have all become familiar with the concepts of dhimmitude, even if we don't all know that a word has been coined to describe it.

From Egypt and Palestine to Iraq and Syria, from Morocco and Algeria to Spain, Sicily and Greece, from Armenia and the Balkans to the Caucasus: Wherever Islam conquered, surrendering dhimmi, known to Muslims as "people of the book (the Bible)," were tolerated, allowed to practice their religion, but at a dehumanizing cost.

There were literal taxes (jizya) to be paid; these bought the dhimmi the right to remain non-Muslim, the price not of religious freedom, but of religious identity. Freedom was lost, sorely circumscribed by a body of Islamic law (sharia) designed to subjugate, denigrate and humiliate the dhimmi. The resulting culture of self-abnegation, self-censorship and fear shared by far-flung dhimmi is the basis of dhimmitude.

The extremely distressing, but highly significant fact is, dhimmitude doesn't only exist in lands where Islamic law rules. This is the lesson of Cartoon Rage 2006, a cultural nuke set off by an Islamic chain reaction to those 12 cartoons of Mohammed appearing in a Danish newspaper. We have watched the Muslim meltdown with shocked attention, but there is little recognition that its poisonous fallout is fear.

Despite the standing ovations received by former President Jimmy Carter and the Rev. Joseph Lowery at the funeral for Coretta Scott King, many of the the political barbs aimed at President Bush that drew the ovations were not as well received elsewhere.

It's sad to say but it must be said. It should be clear to anyone who watched the tasteless politicization of Coretta Scott King's funeral by a black minister and by a former president why the black community remains, after all these years, as troubled as it is.

Children of the civil rights movement of the '60s are grandparents today. Babies born after the Civil Rights Act are now parents. Yet, despite the passing of generations, not only do many of the problems in the black community persist, but by many important measures, we're much worse off than we were 50 years ago.

Why do things go on with so little change? Why do they get worse?

One big reason, as the Rev. Joseph Lowery so aptly demonstrated at Mrs. King's funeral, is that those who have exercised leadership in our community since those days in the 1960s, those whom black citizens have listened to and heeded, have never understood, or never wanted to understand, when it's time to turn off the politics and the show business.